ReSource The Counselling Centre was established over 40 years ago as a registered charitable organisation offering multi-lingual professional counselling service for people residing in Hong Kong. The organisation has grown considerably since then. At the present they have more than ten counsellors. All their counsellors are trained to a high standard and experienced. They see clients for many reasons. For example, relationship difficulties, parenting issues, anxiety, stress, depression and bereavement.

ReSource is a multicultural organisation and at present can offer counselling in at least seven languages – English, Cantonese, Putonghua, Russian, Hindi, Marathi and Marwadi. Their statistics show that they see approximately 55% Chinese speaking clients, the remaining 45% of our clients are counselled in English or other languages.

As an Organisational Member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy ReSource is bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and subject to the Professional Conduct Procedure therein.

What you can do to help:Part-Time English Speaking Counsellor / Part-Time Bilingual Counsellor

Mature persons needed to provide counselling services, including child/ family/ personal/ marital relationship counselling. Must be fluent in English and have a minimun of 2 years counselling experience. Only a holder of a Master’s degree or higher in either counselling, social work or clincal psychology need apply.
Would be required to work flexible hours including some evenings and/ or Saturday.

Interested please email: wingo.resource@counselling.org.hk

Rate this:

Asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs) have limited rights in Hong Kong and they are a group of marginalized and ignored population. Due to the backlog of the screening process, it is not unusual for an ASR to stay in Hong Kong for years, some of them have stayed in Hong Kong for over ten years. They are prohibited to engage in any form of businesses or jobs, except in rare exceptions. During the lengthy screening process and long waiting time, ASRs can only live under limited government and NGO subsidies. Despite their long stay, they are often detached from the society and there is little public awareness of their presence in the city.

Health in Action is a humanitarian organization established in 2011 in Hong Kong, with a focus in promoting community health and wellbeing through the empowerment of underprivileged populations in Hong Kong and in Southeast Asia. Their work is rooted in the core belief that every human being has the right to health. They offer support to people based on health needs, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. Health In Action is a registered charity in Hong Kong and is a member of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

Health In Action advocates health equity for the underprivileged, including ASRs in Hong Kong. The right to health implies that the government should provide accessible and acceptable basic healthcare to all living in the city. This also includes other health-related services such as nutritious food and safe housing etc. The right to health enshrined in international human rights treaties, such as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, is applicable to Hong Kong. ASRs can attend basic medical services at public hospitals with their fees waived. However, experience from ASRs show that there are multiple factors hindering their health care access, including cultural differences, language barrier, lack of awareness of health needs and financial constraints. All these impose negative effects on the physical and mental health of ASRs.

What you can do to help:Volunteers are Health in Action’s core valuable assets. Their committed team of multi-disciplinary volunteers is continuously expanding, with professionals including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, lawyers and more. University students are also a crucial part of their taskforce. Health in Action welcomes volunteers of all backgrounds and experiences to join them in working towards health equity.

If you are interested in joining Health in Action as a volunteer, please do not hesitate to let them know by emailing hia@hia.org.hk.

Founded in 1998, Animals Asia promotes compassion and respect for all animals and works to bring about long-term change. Animals Asia works to end the barbaric bear bile trade, which sees over 10,000 bears kept on bile farms in China, and, according to official figures, about 1,200 suffering the same fate in Vietnam.

Animals Asia has rescued over 500 bears, caring for them at its award-winning bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam.

Animals Asia also works to end the trade in dogs and cats for food in China and Vietnam, and lobbies to improve the welfare of companion animals, promote humane population management and prevent the cross border export of “meat dogs” in Asia.

In addition, Animals Asia campaigns for an end to abusive animal practices in zoos and safari parks in Asia, and works closely with governing authorities to improve animal management and increase awareness of the welfare needs of captive animals.

Their work
Their work to end animal cruelty focuses on three major programmes:

End Bear Bile FarmingAnimals Asia works to end the barbaric bear bile trade, which sees over 10,000 bears – mainly moon bears but also sun bears and brown bears – kept on bile farms in China, and around 2,400 in Vietnam.

Cat and Dog WelfareAnimals Asia works to end the trade in dogs and cats for food in China, and lobbies to improve the welfare of companion animals and promote humane population management.

Zoos and Safari ParksAnimals Asia campaigns for an end to abusive animal practices in zoos and safari parks in China, and works closely with governing authorities to improve animal management and increase awareness of the welfare needs of captive animals.

Their approachChange through Empathy:Animals Asia works with animal ambassadors who embody the ideal that empathy for one animal can evolve into empathy for an entire species and ultimately for all species.

Negotiation:Animals Asia takes a non-partisan, sensitive approach in working with governments, authorities, experts and local communities. They work with, not against, people to find sustainable solutions for all parties.

Education:Animals Asia informs and empower local communities for the welfare of animals and people, promoting change at the grass-roots level. They promote alternatives to animal products for use in traditional medicine through our Healing without Harm campaign.

Investigation:Animals Asia works with vet and bear-care teams, field officers and a network of research scientists, university students, pathologists and traditional medicine doctors to investigate the bear bile industry, the trade in cats and dogs for their meat, and cruelty to animals in captivity – and use this knowledge to fight against these practices.

What you can do to help
Become a volunteer for Animals Asia and use your skills and passion to help animals in need. There are many ways you can donate your time.

Office volunteers
Support your local Animals Asia office by volunteering for office work or helping at events.

Behavioral volunteers – China and VietnamAnimals Asia can only accept volunteers trained in either veterinary science / vet nursing or qualified in wild-animal management, as all hands-on work with the bears necessitates intensive training. All behavioral volunteer placements require a minimum commitment of three months in China or Vietnam.

Professor Paws Volunteers
All potential volunteers must:
* be over the age of 18 and have their own dog.
* be clean and presentable at all times.
* be committed to the programme and its aims.
* have good “people skills” and an enthusiastic, patient personality.
* enjoy meeting new people and be willing to be a part of a team.
* be native English speakers.
* be available for visits to schools on weekdays.

Vet Nurse VolunteersAnimals Asia can only accept applications from volunteers trained in either veterinary science / vet nursing or qualified in wild-animal management, as all hands on work with the bears necessitates intensive training. All veterinary volunteer placements require a commitment of at least three months.

Doctor Dog Volunteers
All potential volunteers must:
* be over the age of 18 and have their own dog.
* be clean and presentable at all times.
* be committed to the programme and its aims.
* have good “people skills” and an enthusiastic, patient personality.
* enjoy meeting new people and willing to be a part of a team.

Rate this:

World Wide Fund For Nature Hong Kong is one of Hong Kong’s leading conservation and environmental education organisations. WWF is currently looking for volunteers to deliver gardening works in their Island House Conservation Studies Centre, Tai Po

Responsibilities:
To support all-round Centre horticulture and maintenance works.

Requirements:
* Has solid working experience in horticulture work and maintenance British style garden;
* With knowledge in maintenance of garden facilities and horticulture equipment;
* With knowledge / experience in organic Farming;

About WWF: WWF was founded in 1961 by a group of passionate and committed individuals with the vision and determination to change the future – for good of the natural world and for all life on Earth.

Today, WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected conservation organizations, with a network active in more than 100 countries. WWF is currently carrying out more than 1,300 conservation projects around the planet – from small-scale local conservation projects to large-scale species protection projects which span all continents.

Their goal is to build a future in which humans can live in harmony with nature.

Rate this:

* Pneumonia and diarrheal diseases are two of the leading causes of death among children under 5 years old.
* According to the World Health Organization, millions of young lives could be saved with access to bar soap and hygiene education.
* More than 2 million bars of partially used hotel soap are thrown away every day in the United States.
* By recycling soap and other discarded hygiene products, Clean the World saves lives with items that traditionally end up in landfills.

Clean the World: Clean the World was founded in 2009 by Shawn Seipler. As the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for an e-commerce technology company, Shawn traveled several days a week. The idea for soap recycling came about after Shawn learned the barely used bars of hotel soap he left behind each morning ended up in a landfill. That led to Clean the World, a Florida not-for-profit corporation under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Mission:* Collect and recycle soap and hygiene products discarded every day by the hospitality industry and other sectors that generate environmental waste.
* Through the distribution of these and other donated products to impoverished people, prevent millions of hygiene-related deaths each year, reduce the morbidity rate for hygiene-related illnesses, and encourage vigorous childhood development.

They do this by…:* Collecting, sorting and processing discarded soap, shampoo conditioner and lotion product donations from participating hospitality partners.
* Collection of donated hygiene products from manufacturers.
* Recycling these product donations at facilities in Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas, and Hong Kong.
* Delivering these recycled product donations to domestic homeless shelters and developing countries suffering from high death rates due to acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease.

What you can do to help: When volunteering, you serve an essential role in Clean the World’s mission by pre-sorting hygiene products for recycling or packing them for distribution. Individuals, corporate groups, and schools serve in dynamic teams at social responsibility events to address urgent hygiene needs.

Clean the World welcomes individual volunteers, corporate groups, churches, families, and clubs. Volunteering at Clean the World is appropriate for kids as well as adults. Volunteers must beat least 8 years old. Children ages 8 through 15 require supervision by a parent or guardian.

Volunteering is by appointment only. To volunteer, please complete the volunteer form by following this link.

Rate this:

Green Monday is a social startup group that aims to tackle climate change and global food insecurity by making low-carbon and sustainable living simple, viral and actionable. Their platform enables corporations, restaurants, schools and the general public to join efforts in performing social and environmental responsibilities while their Green Common is Asia’s first plant-based grocer with the mission to empower the community with sustainable, innovative, wholesome and responsible food choices. In 2014, Green Monday was named by FAST COMPANY as one of China’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies.

While most of us are aware that transportation systems, heavy industries and coal-generated electric power continue to spew black smoke into our atmosphere and adversely affect the environment, few until recently understand that foods we eat are also the culprit of global warming. According to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the meat we consume add more greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide etc. – into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry, mostly from the manure of cattle.
The FAO report also found that current production levels of meat contribute up to 18% of “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gases the world produces every year. That’s more than all the cars, trains and planes combined.

Put simply, a vegetarian diet puts less stress on the environment. For as simple as trading in meat and seafood for greens only once a week, the amount of carbon emission reduced is very significant.

Green Monday’s Mission
Established 22 April 2012, Green Monday is a social enterprise group that promotes and enables green, healthy and sustainable living. Through their vegetarian promotion and food rescue initiatives, they are a platform that enables corporations, restaurants, schools, and the general public to join efforts in reducing our carbon footprint and performing our social and environmental responsibilities.

It is not about converting people to vegetarianism, nor does it require a drastic or overnight lifestyle change or a huge time commitment. Green Monday educates the public how easy and effective it is to reduce carbon footprint and improve health by giving up meat for just one day per week.

Why Monday?
Monday, the first day of a work week, is chosen to welcome a change of pace in the mind and the body. At the beginning of the week, when intentions, plans and expectations are set, having a Green Monday symbolizes a wholesome start.

The name “Green Monday” embraces the positive adoption of green practices rather than refraining people from meat consumption. The goal is to raise awareness and inspire the public on the benefits of green diets, nurturing the love towards our planet, and the pursuit of harmony in life.

What you can do to helpGreen Monday needs your help for various events and projects. If you would like to play an active role in supporting their cause, join the Green Monday volunteer team by filling in the registration form in this link.

Rate this:

Redress is an environmental NGO working to reduce waste in the fashion industry. They achieve this through a variety of programmes, initiatives and campaigns. Redress aims to enhance, educate and enable the adoption of a more sustainable fashion industry that helps to minimise the negative and maximise the positive impacts of the fashion industry on society and the environment. Collectively, Redress collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders, including fashion designers, textile and garment manufacturers, brands and retailers, schools and universities, private sector organisations, multilateral organisations, governments, NGOs, media organisations and consumers.

* Publication of the book Dress [with] Sense to help you: BUY better and make more responsible choices when hitting the shops, WEAR your clothes more creatively, and rescue hidden treasures from the depths of your wardrobe, CARE for your clothes by learning better more environmentally friendly ways to wash, and DISPOSE of them by swapping, gifting, donating or recycling – anything but throwing them in the trash!

What you can do to help :InternshipsRedress has internship positions based in Hong Kong. Interns must commit to a minimum of three weeks full time.

VolunteerRedress occasionally require volunteers with various skill sets. Only volunteers who have a considerable amount of time available will be considered.

Rate this:

Subscribe to Volunteering in Hong Kong

Would you like to know more about volunteer opportunities in Hong Kong as they come up? Enter your email address below and click to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Just remember, the aim of this blog is only to bring opportunities to your attention. If you want to volunteer, you need to reach out to the organisations profiled.